Buffets are convenient because you can fill up on precisely what you want, rather than picking a general selection from a menu. Golden Corral is known for this focus, as its buffets feature a wide variety of items. The company offers options for any meal of the day, for adults and children, as well as for various nutritional needs. Whether you’re keto or vegan, the food chain advertises that you can find something to nosh on.
These factors may sound alluring, enticing you to venture over for a meal. Before you visit the establishment, though, you might want to learn about some major things that customers take issue with. We sought out to discover the most frequent complaints people had, and they were surprisingly easy to find. There were so many complaints we ultimately pooled them into certain themes. We found multiple customer comments for each general complaint, so it’s clear these are not one-time occurrences, but major flaws the chain needs help addressing. Read on before your next visit to Golden Corral.
Food is served cold
Whether you order a sit-down meal or something from a buffet, you don’t expect warm foods to be cold. Salads and chilled desserts, sure, but not hot foods. Plenty of folks are annoyed by the food’s temperature during their Golden Corral visit. Some say they had to ask for their food to be reheated in a microwave. Others mention that the entire breakfast selection was chilly, from the gravy to the eggs, and were totally let down by the experience. Our writer noted in their review of Golden Corral buffet items that “most of the food I ate was just lukewarm.”
Issues with cold food were so severe for one reviewer on Trustpilot that they ultimately reported the Schererville, Indiana, location to the health department. They noted that nearly everything was cold, except for the food that had just been put out. That led them to assume the other foods had been out for quite some time. In addition, the food may be cold simply because it wasn’t even fully cooked. The Trustpilot reviewer said the food was undercooked to boot, which is why they reported it to the health department in the first place. There’s a running joke among customers that you’re lucky if you didn’t get food poisoning. As it turns out, this is a valid concern, as multiple locations have made headlines for food poisoning outbreaks, and several people say they felt sick after eating there. It’s a valid risk.
It is generally dirty
You have a general trust that the establishment you’re eating in is clean. Most people wouldn’t go out if they knew a place was actively filthy, which is why you might want to research your local Golden Corral before you visit. People all over the country discuss unsanitary conditions that left them feeling disgusted.
Some say the service areas or even bathrooms — you know, the very place you’re supposed to wash your hands before a meal — are totally dirty. Other general complaints were that their to-go cup smelled horrendous or that there were moldy croutons tossed in a bucket for customers to see. In a Reddit thread asking people which restaurant they never want to visit again, many called out Golden Corral. One commenter stood out because they said a family member found a hair net baked into their meatloaf.
A reviewer at Ocala, Florida’s Golden Corral talked about dirty tables and a generally messy establishment, while a St. Louis, Missouri, location was noted for flies and dirty dishes piling up. Reviewers from El Cajon, California, have many cleanliness issues: People report the food at that location was gross and cold, and they even claim they spotted a cockroach on one of the serving containers; another reviewer mentioned that the restaurant needed a thorough cleaning. These issues are clearly spread from coast to coast, and beyond. But that doesn’t stop some patrons. “I love going there and yes I’ve seen a roach or 2,” said one commenter on Facebook.
The staff doesn’t seem to care about the customer experience
Many Golden Corral customers feel like the customer service is severely lacking. People talk about encountering unpleasant team members who soured their experience so much they vowed never to return. Other customers appear to have recurring issues, noting that a certain employee is typically pretty rude but was even more so during their latest visit. One person said an employee gave them a look when they raised an issue with the food, and purposely gave them a different item than the one they pointed to. “I felt that my reasonable request was ignored,” one person commented on Trustpilot. “His attitude and behavior made me feel uncomfortable and disrespected.”
People even mention bringing up problems with management, only to find them apathetic to resolving anything. People claim staff even walked into them more than once during their visit. Reviewers report customer service issues occurring anywhere from Tinley Park, Illinois, to Duluth, Georgia. It’s not a new problem either; issues date back at least a decade-plus and persist into more recent years at a single Golden Corral location.
There are far too many issues with the food
One of the most egregious concerns about Golden Corral is its food, which is pretty serious given that it is indeed a food establishment. There’s an array of issues, from the food’s taste to the overall quality. Even those who can appropriately set their expectations stated, “It’s low quality mass produced food.” The food is said to be flavorless or overly salted, making it hardly edible, while the quality seems poor — like it’s been out too long. People also call the food dry, gluey, or mushy.
There’s a wide swath of issues, anything from burnt meatloaf to hard bacon. Others report smashed pies or dry cakes and ice cream that didn’t really live up to its name — it basically came out looking like syrup. And this soupiness applies to other desserts, too.
There are quite a few foods to avoid at Golden Corral, including staples like fries, mashed potatoes, pizza, and chicken. Even drinks such as the tea are reportedly watery. Some say it depends on which store you go to, but the food quality issues remain pretty widespread across many locations. Based on our writer’s assessment of the bland, limp steamed veggies or even dry, worse-than-grocery-store carved glazed ham, the list of unfavorable options is pretty long.
The price is too high for what you get
There’s no doubt that people all over the internet and the U.S. feel like going out to eat is expensive. Golden Corral’s website boasts that it is an “all you can eat buffet for a great value” and that you can earn rewards via the loyalty app for free stuff. But paying customers feel like the place is a big rip-off, both in general and for the food and service one gets. “If I wanted a meal of instant mashed potatoes, StoveTop instant stuffing, and Stouffer’s frozen mac and cheese, I’d stay home and make it myself for half of what they charge,” one Redditor shared.
People say the food was unsatisfactory for the price paid and a complete waste of money; some folks wish they could turn back the clock and spend that money elsewhere. Though being considered overpriced isn’t exactly a new phenomenon, people have been complaining about sticker shock at Golden Corral for years. These complaints come from anywhere from Rochester, New York, to Orlando, Florida, and across the country in Sacramento. Hence, it’s not as though these issues are concentrated in a specific region. However, breakfast may be the best time to go for a cheaper meal (even then, you should avoid certain items); alternatively, you could take advantage of other specials.
Food is not replenished
One of the key components of a buffet is the wide variety of items to choose from; however, you might face a somewhat limited selection at Golden Corral. Many customers report that the food is not only frequently out, but the employees do not replace the items during their visit. “Much of the food bins were empty and what wasn’t empty was crusted over with dried food,” one reviewer mentioned on Tripadvisor. Folks mentioned their early-afternoon visit was riddled with issues — several of which we have already noted — but they also said that much of the food was not even available to eat.
Some customers shared photos of empty vessels at the buffet and stated that the limited amount of food stocked wasn’t even good. Others provided feedback geared directly toward management, noting that it is vital to replenish the food and replace anything that has been finished. However, another person said when they brought up the empty trays, they were told food was totally out — as in there was nothing prepped to replenish. People say that food is empty, and that goes for anything from waffles to mashed potatoes to ice cream and even the salad bars. Some locations seem particularly behind, as the El Cajon, California, and Rochester, New York, restaurants had several call-outs on this issue, but the problem is spread across many locations.
Other customers lack common courtesy (and common sense)
It’s bad enough that the employees might be rude or that the establishment is littered with plates and dried food, but fellow customers adding to the negative experience makes it even worse. Several people report that customers only contribute to the negative experience, whether that’s just from a lack of common sense or from being generally unsanitary. Golden Corral’s chocolate fountain is a big point of discussion, with people saying kids put their hands in it. Some even claim that customers dunk their chicken and steak in the fountain.
“I worked for Golden Corral, and when we cleaned the chocolate fountain there would always be old food like chicken strips in the bottom of it that had been marinating in the chocolate all shift,” said one Redditor on a thread all about asking buffet employees “what is the most heinous culinary crime you’ve seen patrons commit?” Others in the thread said they had seen people use their hands to ladle ranch.
More in the Reddit thread said they’d experienced customers scoop raw cookie dough out of a container with their bare hands to eat, or another take an entire tray of brownies for themselves. Experimenting with food is fine; just do it at home. With this type of behavior, it is no surprise that some customers have been kicked out — that’s one of many Golden Corral facts to know before heading there.
Methodology
We located customer complaints on review websites such as Tripadvisor and Yelp, as well as on other sites like Facebook and Trustpilot. After conducting research, it became clear that complaints centered on a few key issues, but there were still many other problems that bar the chain from making any kind of best buffet list.
Each major complaint needed multiple people to call it out; that way, it was obvious these were persistent issues across various locations around the country. The sheer number of issues regarding each subject made it clear these were widespread enough to warrant mentioning, and not the solitary experience of one person. We included locations where relevant to show how widespread they are.
